Marketing tips to get your start-up off the ground

The key to success with a start-up business is making sure that as many people as possible see your business.

But when you’re starting out – it’s unlikely that you’ll have a team of people at your beck and call to do it for you.

The hard work of marketing your business is up to you!

Here are some quick fire tips to help get your start up off the ground.

Exhibit

From local craft fetes to business meetings, there are plenty of opportunities to raise awareness of your business, products and services when first starting out without breaking the bank.

Exhibiting has proven to deliver a healthy return on investment when you pick the right show (with the right audience).

Pick good quality displays from suppliers such as www.expressexhibitiondisplays.co.uk with eye-catching graphics that can boost awareness of your brand and hopefully leave you with plentiful sales after the event.

Try PPC

PPC is a type of online advertising where you pay per click on your advert going to your website. This allows your adverts to be seen on search engines such as Google and is great for start-up businesses as it allows you to be fully in control. You pick the advert text, what search terms you’ll show up for and how much you’d be willing to pay for a click.

It may seem a bit daunting, but if you start slow and low in terms of bidding then it can be a relatively inexpensive way of generating more visits to your website – and of course hopefully resulting in sales.

Be social

As a new business, being active on social media channels is really important. Not just to share your content with others, but also to engage with your audience. Follow people who you think would be a potential purchaser or influencer and chat to them. It doesn’t have to be all “hey, are you interested in XYZ?” as that may turn people off.

Make your brand human – after all, it’s your pride and joy!

Take part in local chats on twitter – most towns and cities will have a business hour hashtag active where businesses get together and chat online. It’s a great way of raising awareness of your business and all it costs is your time and effort.

Network

Look out for local business networking events. They can put you in touch with other start-ups to share stories and help each other out. As well as great peer-support, they may also be your potential audience!

Make sure you have business cards at the ready for these events and remember that you’re representing your brand when you attend events so dress accordingly.

PR ready

Do you have a story that’s PR worthy? Get in touch with your local newspaper as they may want to run a story about your start up business success! It’s a great way of raising awareness of your business and shouldn’t cost you anything if you have a worthy story.